


Mortal Vessel

by TheDinosaurNerd



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: F/M, Nightmares, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-04 04:47:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14012493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDinosaurNerd/pseuds/TheDinosaurNerd
Summary: He is the ancient beast, the ceaseless wheel, the last scholar of GOLB. Trapped inside a harmless vessel, he calls out into the night, and he finds a being much better suited to his unholy desires. A great ark, upon which he shall inflict his torturous evil.He calls out to Finn.





	1. Voice on the Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a criminal lack of the Lich on this site

The treehouse is silent. Finn lays silent in his bed.

_Child…_

The voice is carried on the wind. It falls upon open ears.

_Come to me, child._

Finn rises, his eyes still closed. He climbs out of his bed and descends the treehouse.

_Yes, child. Come to me._

Finn walks across Ooo, still asleep. He follows the beckoning voice all the way to the home of Tree Trunks and Mr. Pig. Finn enters the house silently, going to Sweet P’s room.

Sweet P is asleep. His large shadow is cast upon the wall. Something rises from the child’s shadow, and moves across the wall towards Finn’s silhouette.

* * *

 

Finn gasps as he wakes up. He’s not sure where he is, or how he got there. The sun is on the horizon.

“Ugh. Where the flip am I?”

He rises to his feet. He’s in the woods somewhere. The forest is eerily silent. Finn looks around. He realizes where he is when he sees the decrepit subway opening a few meters away.

“Ugh. Not this place again. How did I get here?”

Finn turns and starts walking. He’s not quite fully awake yet, not enough to be able to get his bearings. He walks until the forest starts to come alive with the sounds of the birds and insects.

“Finn?”

Finn whirls around. There’s nobody there.

“What? Who said that?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s just me.” Huntress Wizard drops down from the trees.

“Oh, hey Huntress Wizard.”

“What are you doing out here, Finn?”

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“Well, I woke up in the woods, down by the Lich’s old place. Not sure how I got out here.”

“That’s weird. Are you feeling alright? I think I’ve got an elk’s heart in here somewhere…”

“No, it’s fine. I just- do you know the way home from here? Jake’s probably getting worried by now.”

“Yeah, the treehouse is… that way.” She points.

“Alright, thanks. I’ll see you around, Huntress Wizard.”

“Yeah.”

She jumps back up into the trees. Finn sets off in the direction she indicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome


	2. Shoko's Dream

Finn opens the treehouse door. He walks into the living room. Jake is putting down the phone as he walks in.

“Finn! Where ya been, man? I was just calling PB to ask if she’d seen you.”

“I woke up in the woods. I guess I sleepwalked out there or something.”

“That’s weird. Well, now that you’re back, I’m gonna make us some pancakes.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Finn sinks into the couch and sighs. He puts a hand to his forehead.

“Are you okay, Finn?” asks BMO, sitting on the table.

“I don’t know, BMO. I’m feelin all weird.”

“Do you want to play… video games?”

“Not right now, BMO.”

* * *

 

After breakfast, Jake agrees to take Finn over to the Candy Kingdom. Princess Bubblegum is working in her tower when they arrive.

“Hey, Peebles.”

“Oh, hello Finn. You alright? Jake called earlier.”

“Yeah, actually, that’s kinda why I came. I woke up in the middle of the woods this morning.”

“Hmm. Interesting. Do you have a history with sleepwalking?”

“Not since the whole thing with Shoko and your amulet.”

“Well, it might be an isolated incident. Let me know if anything else strange happens, ok?”

Finn gives her a thumbs up.

“Now that that’s settled, could you guys help me with this other thing? Starchy says that something’s been eating the gravestones in the cemetery.”

* * *

 

Finn pulls himself into his sleeping bag.

“Good night, Finn!” Jake yells from the other side of the room.

“Yeah.”

_~_

It is dark. Cold. Empty. Finn wanders through a great silence.

“What is this place?” he asks, to an empty plane.

“I don’t know. It’s your dream, after all.”

Finn is face to face with a familiar, green-skinned girl with a robot arm.

“Woah. Hey, Shoko. Are you, like, real?”

“Not sure. I think it’s me, but could I just be a figment of your imagination?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Who knows. Nice arm, by the way. Now we match.” She raises her robot arm. Finn raises his.

“So, why are you here? Is this one of those reincarnation self-discovery things? Do you have any more sins that need retonement? Er, atonement?”

“No. I came here to warn you. We’re not alone in here anymore. Something terrible has come to inhabit your mind.”

“Like what?”

“I’m not sure. An evil older than I am. Look.”

Above them, the sky lights up. It’s a bright green comet.

“We were a comet once, Finn.”

“Yeah. But not like that. It reminds me of… something… I can’t remember.”

“Something dangerous. You’re in trouble, Finn.”

The dark landscape begins to light up.

“I think you’re waking up. Good luck, Finn. You’re going to need it.”

“Will I see you again?”

“I don’t know. Tell Princess Bubblegum I said hi.”

~

Finn wakes up with a start. The room is empty; he can hear Jake singing below.

“Weird dream,” he says to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	3. Wake Up

“So, Shoko was in your dream?”

“Yeah. I can’t remember all of what she said. I feel like it was important. I’m still festering over it. She did tell me to say hi to you, though.”

“Oh.” Bubblegum is silent for a moment. “Well, try to remember what she said. And, if she shows up again… try to tell her that… I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. I’ll try. Talk to you later, P-Brains.”

Finn hangs up the phone. He eats another spoonful of his cereal. Jake sits down next to him.

“Hey, you alright, man? You’ve seemed kinda off since that weird biz yesterday.”

“Yeah, I dunno. It’s like, there’s a pressure in my head. It feels familiar, but not good familiar.”

“Huh. Maybe you gotta open the Vault again, y’know? Like the last time you were all sleepwalk-y.”

“No. It’s not in there, whatever it is. This is something different.” Finn knocks on his head for dramatic effect.

“Hmm… well, if you say so. Anyways, I think we’re out of bacon. You wanna go to the Grocery Kingdom?”

“Yeah, sure.”

* * *

 

After the trip to the Grocery Kingdom, Jake starts unloading the groceries.

“Hey, Finn! There’s some really weird stuff in here. Did you buy this?”

“What kinda stuff?”

“Uh, bleach, gasoline, lighter fluid, ammonia…”

“Weren’t me, brother o’ mine. Maybe it fell into the cart by accident.”

“That doesn’t make any sense…”

Jake throws the mysterious items out the window.

Finn stays up late playing video games on BMO. Eventually, he falls asleep.

~

“Shoko? Hey, you still in here?”

Finn looks around the dark void. He spots Shoko from behind, standing in the distance.

“There you are! I’ve been looking for you. Peebles wanted me to say-“

Finn reaches Shoko and grabs her shoulder to whirl her around.

The last piece of melted skin slips off of her decrepit skull. Finn lets out a high-pitched scream as Shoko’s remains collapse into a horrifying pile of bones and flesh.

“Shoko… you got all messed up.”

The air turns cold. Finn’s breath begins to appear as a cloud. He gasps as the ground begins to bubble, before falling away into a glowing green liquid. Shoko’s remains fall into the bubbling pit. Finn steps back as the ground crumbles away at his feet, barely avoiding falling in himself.

_Aren’t you cold, Finn?_

“I- I know that voice.”

_Step into the well, Finn._

_Where’s your sweater now?_

A skeletal arm rises from the glowing well, followed by another and another. Soon, a veritable horde of skeleton limbs are clawing into the air. They begin to reach for Finn, who screams as one of the cold, dead hands grabs his ankle. An all-too familiar laugh echoes through the void as Finn is dragged towards the well-

* * *

 

He wakes up on the couch, back in the treehouse. He clutches his chest, gasping and coughing. The room is quiet and empty. Finn looks out the window, and sees that it’s still nighttime.

“Woof. Bad dream.” Finn racks his mind to try and remember all that happened. He sees Shoko’s skeleton, and a glowing well, but not much else. There’s something important there, something Finn tries to remember, but it’s concealed itself too well in his mind.

Finn gets up and walks to the kitchen. He doubts he’s going to get any more sleep tonight, so why not have some ice cream? He opens the cooler and pulls out the carton, grabs a spoon, and sits down to eat.

Once he takes a bite, it hits him that he can’t taste the ice cream. He spits it out and puts the lid back on the carton.

“Aw, what the stuff?! Maybe it’s gone bad? But we just bought this yesterday. And bad ice cream tastes all crummy, not… like nothing.”

Finn throws the carton out and climbs up the treehouse to the bedroom.

“Hey, Jake? Sorry to wake you up, but…”

Jake’s bed is empty.

“Jake?”

Finn drops back down the ladder and starts searching the treehouse. Not only can he not find Jake, BMO and Neptr are missing too.

“Man, this is getting mad creepy.”

Finn goes to grab the phone and dials Princess Bubblegum. It rings a few times before it picks up.

“Hey, PB? Jake and everyone else are missing. I’m getting kinda freaked out.”

_Wrong number, Finn._

“What?” That voice…

_Look out the window, child._

Thoroughly creeped out, Finn walks to the window and looks outside.

The ground is a field of bones. As far as the eye can see, the ground is covered in a blanket of bones. They move and fluctuate, like waves in an unholy sea of death.

“What is this?”

_This is your doom, Finn. Wake up._

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	4. Brain-scan-ulator

Finn wakes up screaming. The shrill sound wakes up Jake, who also starts screaming. Even BMO starts screaming from downstairs.

“Dude, what is it?!”

Finn groans and rubs his head.

“Messed up dream, man. First I had this really janked up dream about Shoko, and then I thought I woke up, but it was still part of the dream.”

“Dude. This isn’t good, bro. You’ve clearly got some issues that we need to work out. For your mental health.” Jake stretches out some extra arms and prods Finn in the head to emphasize his point.

“I guess. Wait… how did I get here?”

“Um… what?”

“I fell asleep on the couch downstairs. How’d I get up here?”

“Aw, no, man, you’re sleepwalking again! I’m taking you down to the Candy Kingdom for a proper evaluation.”

* * *

 

Princess Bubblegum places a strange-looking device onto Finn’s head like a helmet.

“The brain-scan-ulator will make a map of your brain activity. It should give us a good idea of any irregularities in your brainwaves.”

The brain-scan-ulator starts to hum, and Bonnie follows a conduit of wires extending from the back of the helmet over to an old computer screen. She watches intently as a science-y readout appears on the screen.

“Ok, you can take it off now.”

Finn removes the fancy helmet and walks over to the computer. Bonnie is closely analyzing Finn’s brain-map.

“I’m detecting a slight irregularity in your frontal lobe. I can’t tell what it is.”

“What’s the frontal robe?”

“Lobe. It controls your personality, behavior, emotions, and other stuff. I think this abnormality may be affecting parts of your subconscious mind and causing all these weird dreams.”

“Weird. Do you think it’s some, like, ghost biz?”

“I don’t know. Anything beyond the realm of science is beyond me. Now look; I have to go on a very important diplomatic mission coming up. I’m leaving later today. While I’m gone, I want you to continue to monitor for more weird beeswax.”

“Ok, princess.”

* * *

 

As Finn and Jake depart, Peppermint Butler tugs on Bonnie’s arm.

“What is it, Peps?”

“There is something terribly wrong with Finn, your highness. I detected a familiar presence about him. Couldn’t quite place my finger on it, though.”

Bubblegum narrows her eyes.

* * *

 

Huntress Wizard is up sitting in the forest canopy, sharpening her arrows, when the sound of Bubblegum’s Morrow makes her look upwards. The bird lands in a nearby tree and PB hops off its back, walking across the branches to Huntress Wizard.

“Hey, HW.”

“Princess Bubblegum.”

“I need you to do something for me.”

HW shrugs. “I’m all ears.”

“I need you to look after Finn. You may try to hide it, but I know you care about him. There’s something really wrong with him. I’m not gonna be around for a few days, so I need you to be there.”

An uneasy feeling starts to settle in HW’s mind.

“What do you mean? What happened to him?”

“You know about his sleepwalking episode the other day, right? It was caused by an abnormality in his brain activity, and I’m worried there’s something more… insidious at play. I need you to royal promise to watch over him, to try and keep him safe.”

Huntress Wizard closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

“I royal promise to watch over Finn.”

“Thank you. I mean it. I have to go now.”

Princess Bubblegum climbs back to the Morrow and takes off. Huntress Wizard watches as the bird disappears, before setting off in the direction of the treehouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	5. Mutagenic Nightmare

It’s been a day since Princess Bubblegum left.

“Hey, Finn? I’m going to bed!”

“…ok!”

Jake stretches up into the bedroom and prepares to climb into bed, when a voice comes from above.

“Hey.”

Jake screams.

“Woah, geez, dude, calm down.”

“Huntress Wizard?! How’d you get in here?!”

“I came in through the roof.”

“Through the roof? What does that even mean?”

“…I’m a wizard, Jake. I can do things.”

“Yeah, well, what are you doing here?”

“Dunno. Thought I’d drop in. You guys don’t mind if I crash here for a while, right?”

“I mean, I’m sure Finn wouldn’t mind…” Jake waggles his eyebrows.

“Alright, cool.”

Huntress Wizard drops down from the ceiling next to Finn’s bed, and turns into a log.

“Uh… alrighty then…” Jake climbs into his bed and goes to sleep.

* * *

 

Jake is woken up by BMO prodding his shoulder.

“Jake! Finn is sleepwalking again.”

Jake groans and rolls out of bed. He and BMO descend the tree fort to the entrance. Finn is standing outside the fort, swaying in the wind. Jake walks out and pokes his arm.

“Finn, buddy? Wake up, man.”

Finn rubs his head and turns around.

“What? Was I sleepwalking again?”

Jake nods.

“Come on, let’s get back inside. You have any more dreams?”

“Some weird biz, I think. Something important, but I can’t remember.”

* * *

 

The next morning, Finn is eating breakfast when Huntress Wizard enters the room.

“Oh, hey, HW! What are you doing here?”

“Just thought I’d crash here for a little while.”

“Cool, cool.”

“You been sleepwalking some more, right?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty weird. I keep having spooky dreams that I can’t understand.”

“Hmm. That is weird. I was thinking, maybe we should go fight something big. It’ll help you get your mind off things.”

“Sounds like fun.”

Finn, Jake, and HW spend the day fighting a monster composed entirely of living cows, none of whom agreed to being part of a giant monster. When they return to the treehouse, night has fallen.

Finn tucks himself into his sleeping suit and closes his eyes.

~

Finn is standing in a vast city. Around him, cars move by and pedestrians walk past, unaware of his presence.

“Woah. What is this place?”

Finn looks around at the tall buildings around him. He’s seen plenty like them, but in a decaying and ruined state. It’s surreal to be in the midst of it all.

Suddenly, there is a bright green flash. Finn looks to the horizon, just as the pressure wave hits him. The buildings and people around him are suddenly ripped apart by the violent force, everything consumed in a horrific green flame. As the debris clears, Finn watches in horror as a mass of screaming souls rises from the impact point, billowing out into a glowing green mushroom cloud.

* * *

 

In a sudden moment, the world falls dark. Finn is left shaking. He looks down at his hands, panting heavily.

Finn’s hands begin to melt. He screams as the bones in his hands emerge, then fall off. They crawl away from Finn as he falls to the ground, then begin to sprout out into a fully formed skeleton. Two curled horns emerge from the skull.

_Do you remember me now, child?_

Finn gasps for breath and tries to speak. “I… almost remember…”

_I am the ceaseless wheel._

“I’ve heard this before…”

_The last scholar of GOLB._

Everything is suddenly consumed in a green flame.

~

Huntress Wizard tries to wake Finn up as he screams and convulses in his bed.

“Come on, man, wake up!”

She shakes his shoulders again, and finally his eyes snap open. He coughs and grabs her arms for support.

“You okay?”

Finn nods weakly. “Bad dream.”

“Do you remember anything?”

“Almost... I think I saw the mushroom war.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	6. The Ceaseless Wheel

Huntress Wizard enters the tree fort and climbs up to the living room. She’s holding a small felt bag. On the living room, Finn is sitting on the couch, playing on BMO. It looks like he hasn’t had any sleep.

“Hey.”

“Hey, HW. Did you get it?”

She holds up the bag, before opening it and pulling out a small bottle.

“Dreamless sleep spell, courtesy of Ron James.”

Huntress Wizard holds the bottle up to Finn’s face, pulling the cork. A puff of glittery black smoke goes off in his face, making him cough.

“He said it should last for a few days. Maybe you’ll be better by then.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Huntress Wizard.”

* * *

 

A few days pass without incident. The spell works perfectly. It’s a relief. Finn and Jake settle back into carefree adventuring, with Huntress Wizard tagging alongside.

After an especially interesting encounter with a giant, sentient lamppost, the trio returns to the tree fort. Jake goes about making himself a snack, Finn plays around with Neptr for a little while, and HW gets in some target practice. Night falls. Jake and Finn go to bed, while Huntress Wizard turns into a log in the room.

~

Finn is standing in front of Tree Trunks’ house. He knocks on the door.

“Hello? Anybody home?”

Sweet P opens the door. The giant child looks down at Finn.

“Oh, hey Sweet P! How’s it going?”

The child simply stares at him.

“… you still having bad dreams?”

“No. The nightmares are gone.”

The world turns dark. Green flames swirl in Sweet P’s eyes. Finn steps back as the air turns cold.

The child’s muscles begin to unravel, as if the process that created him was being played in reverse. The flesh recedes and disappears, leaving only the skeleton. Out of nowhere, a cloak enfolds the body, and decayed flesh begins to grow around the skull. On top of it sprouts ragged grey skin, covering the head except for the mouth, where the tattered hide looks as if it had been ripped off.

Suddenly, all his memories of the waking world come back to Finn. He narrows his eyes at the being.

“Lich.”

_Indeed, child._

“How are you here? You’re supposed to be trapped inside Sweet P!”

_That vessel was a prison. He was useless to me. But the façade of his innocence provided me the perfect asylum to rebuild my power. In time, I was able to abandon that vessel, and find one more suited to me._

“You’ve been inside my head this whole time… janking up my dreams!”

_But of course, child. I rather… enjoyed feeling your fear at the visions I conjured._

“I don’t know what you’re playing at, Lich, but it’s not going to work!”

The Lich laughs.

_I almost pity your ignorance. Don’t you see, Finn? You are mine. The marionette to my puppetmaster._

The Lich opens his mouth, and out comes a black, noxious cloud. It comes for Finn before he can react, seeping into his mouth and nose and suffocating him.

~

Huntress Wizard wakes up in the middle of the night, transforming back into her normal form. She gets up, noticing that Finn’s not in bed. She climbs down the tree fort to the living room, where BMO is asleep. Finn is nowhere to be found. She climbs down another level to the entrance. The door is open.

HW steps outside the treehouse. The night is quiet, the only sound being a faint breeze.

“Where did you go, Finn?”

She picks up on his footprints with her huntress vision, and sets off after him.

She follows the trail for at least an hour. It leads her deep into the woods, which feel darker and more desolate than usual. Eventually, she catches up with a figure in the darkness, whispering something unintelligible.

“Finn?”

He turns around, and Huntress Wizard gasps.

Finn’s eyes are wide and dark, his pupils reduced to unearthly pinpricks of green light. He’s quietly muttering a string of incantations.

“C-can you hear me?”

Finn laughs, and a chill runs down Huntress Wizard’s spine. Finn’s voice speaks in unison with a deeper, more sinister one.

_Finn is asleep, child. This vessel is mine._

Her face is one of pure terror. “What are you?”

_I am the end. The death of all things._

He laughs again. Huntress Wizard clenches her fists.

“Let him go.”

_Foolish child. I am a part of him now, a disease that cannot be cured. I am all-encompassing._

She stares at him hopelessly. But then she gets an idea, and starts to reach out to him.

_What are you doing?_

Huntress Wizard grabs Finn’s wrist.

“Finn, I know you’re in there. Fight it.”

He scowls.

_You are lucky he is strong, child. I will return._

Finn’s eyes returns to normal. He groans and collapses into HW’s arms.

“Ugh… Huntress Wizard?”

“You don’t look so good, Finn. Here, eat this elk’s heart-“

“Ech- ew, no, dude, what is it with you and the flippin elk’s heart?”

“… sorry.”

Finn coughs violently.

“What the hamballs happened?”

“This is worse than we thought. I think you’ve been possessed.”

Finn furrows his eyebrows, then gasps as he remembers his dream.

“The Lich.”

“What?”

“We need to get back to the tree fort. I don’t like it out here.”

Huntress Wizard nods, and places an arm over his shoulders for support as they start walking.


	7. Sleep

Jake slides a mug of tea across the table towards Finn. It is the morning after Finn’s possession.

“Thanks, Jake.”

“Anytime, bro.”

Huntress Wizard is sitting next to Finn at the table, hand placed on top of his.

“So, this Lich guy wants to destroy all life?”

Finn nods. “He’s tried a whole bunch to jazz everything up. He messed up our friend Billy.”

He stands up and walks into the center of the room.

“I don’t know what he’s planning, but we need to stop him. I might know a way.”

Finn looks around at his friends, then heads to the ladder to climb down to the entrance.

“What- Finn, where’re you going?” Jake goes to follow him.

“I have an idea to defeat the Lich.” Finn hops down and starts walking towards the door. Huntress Wizard drops down the ladder behind him.

“We’ll come with you.”

“No. I have to do this alone. The Lich is my problem right now.”

Jake shakes his head. “Dude, are you crazy? We can help!” He goes to follows Finn.

Finn turns around to face them. The air turns cold.

_Stop._

Jake and Huntress Wizard suddenly can’t move.

_You will not follow me. The time has come for my will to come to fruition. You will die with this world, with all worlds._

Huntress Wizard is struggling to move her legs. “Finn is going to stop you, you know. It’s not going to be that easy.”

_Sleep._

Jake and Huntress Wizard collapse, knocked out cold. Finn laughs and starts walking.

* * *

 

The Morrow appears on the horizon. It lands near the tree fort, and Princess Bubblegum climbs down off of its back. She walks over to the door.

“Heyo! I’m back! Hello?”

Bonnie opens the door. She gasps when she sees Jake and Huntress Wizard passed out on the floor. She runs over to Jake, who is closer, and shakes him awake.

“Jake! What the flip happened?! Where’s Finn?”

“Ugh… Prubs? How long’ve we been asleep?”

Bonnie checks Jake’s eyes.

“Judging by your physical condition, you were asleep for at least a day.”

“A DAY?! We need to find Finn!”

“What happened? Do you know where he went?”

“No, but Princess… Finn’s been possessed! By the Lich!”

Bonnie drops Jake. “Wake up HW.” She turns and walks out the door. Jake stretches out his arm and pokes Huntress Wizard’s face. She groans and sits up.

 

Bubblegum is sitting on top of the Morrow when Jake and Huntress Wizard come out of the tree fort.

“Get on!”

Jake picks up HW and stretches up onto the bird. It caws and takes off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	8. The Lich

Princess Bubblegum frantically leads the others into a secret room in the Candy Castle. There is a big metal-looking glove sitting on a table.

“I’ve been trying to reverse engineer Billy’s gauntlet. It’s as close as I can get it without the original around for reference.” She picks up the gauntlet and slips it onto her hand, before taking off a pair of earrings. She hands one each to Jake and Huntress Wizard. Jake puts his over his head.

“HW, put yours on. We’re going to need these to avoid being possessed ourselves.”

She leads the others back out.

* * *

 

“Princess Bubblegum! Where are we going?” Huntress Wizard is clutching the feathers of the Morrow like her life depends on it.

“We’re approaching the Lich’s old well of power.” Below them, the waters of Iceberg Lake end and a great expanse of forest begins. The Morrow soars over the woods, before descending towards an open space in the trees. The bird lands by the entrance of an old subway station. Bonnie leads the charge down the staircase and across the main lobby. The trio follows an old train track to a large opening in the ground, and below they see Finn standing before the Lich’s well.

Bonnibel hops down a series of broken pipes into the pit. Jake and Huntress Wizard follow suit. Finn stands at the edge of the bubbling well. Above him, a number of gems float in the air. He turns to face them and laughs.

_Welcome, Princess. You have brought the final piece to me._

Bonnie gasps as the gem in her crown is suddenly yanked from its position, joining the other gems above the well.

_The process is nearly complete. I have harnessed the great power of the Enchiridion. The annihilation of this world shall merely be the beginning._

Finn suddenly collapses, released from the Lich’s influence. The others rush forward to pull him away from the edge of the pit. Simultaneously, pieces of rubble and debris begin to move towards the gems floating in the air, enclosing them in a growing clump of material.

“He’s building himself a new body! Attack it before he’s finished!” Bonnibel aims the gauntlet at the growing mass and fires its light beam. Huntress Wizard begins firing arrows at it, while Jake turns his arms into a slingshot.

“It’s working! Keep firing!”

Suddenly, the gauntlet’s beam is redirected. There is a massive surge of energy, sending the group flying away from the well. The floating clump of material then begins to reconfigure itself into a skeletal form, the concrete and steel calcifying into indestructible bone. A cloak conjures itself around the body, as the skull sprouts a pair of demonic horns. Within the eye sockets, there appear two pinpricks of green light.

The resurrected Lich laughs maniacally, his power amplified tenfold by the gems at the center of his new body. He lifts a skeletal hand and points it at his four enemies, who are just getting back to their feet. Their protective gems suddenly shatter, as does Bonnibel’s gauntlet. The world suddenly falls into darkness and cold.

_Kneel._

Finn, Jake, Bonnie, and Huntress Wizard are pulled down to their knees by a great force, their eyes changing from the possession.

_There is nothing left for you, my adversaries. You have failed for the final time. The magic of the great book has granted me with immeasurable power. I will bathe this world in mutagenic horror, the likes of which shall surpass even the great bomb. I will leave this world in ruin, and I will sail into an infinity of universes to be annihilated. I will hunt down your every variation and reincarnation, and I shall kill you again and again and again, across all universes. And I will not be alone._

The void suddenly transforms into a vision of a sea of monsters, writhing and screaming in their lust for destruction. The four heroes look down in unrivaled horror.

_I shall awaken the greatest monsters of old, older than time itself, and I will build an army to advance the extinction of all life. This is the end for you, my adversaries. I am the end of everything._

The four are released from their possession, returning suddenly to the corporeal world, as the bubbling well begins to rumble violently. The Lich bursts into a bout of cackling laughter, as the green liquid in the well escalates into a screaming vortex of mutagenic fire, the Lich at the center of the chaos. His laughter continues, as the earth itself begins to tear itself apart. It is the end.

As the Lich’s noxious power reaches its breaking point, Finn and the others are suddenly whisked away in a flurry of colorful rectangles.

* * *

 

The people of Ooo watch as, across Iceberg Lake, there is a bright flash, followed by a rising green mushroom cloud of screaming toxic souls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	9. The Plan

A flurry of colorful rectangles comes down from the sky in front of the tree fort, teleporting Finn and the others. Above them, radioactive spirits move through the sky, casting the world in an eerie green light.

A pink, 2-dimensional figure appears on the ground under them.

“Guys! You need to get rid of the Lich.”

“Prismo? That you?” says Jake. Bonnie and Huntress Wizard are too confused to say anything.

“Yeah. Look, this is the closest the Lich has gotten to his goals, and his influence is negating my powers. You guys need to stop him before everything dies.”

“What about that Maid thing?” says Finn.

“That’s not gonna work this time. The Lich, for all intents and purposes, _is_ the Enchiridion. I have an idea, though. I searched the multiverse and found a world that is completely empty. If you can remove the jewels from the Lich’s physical form and cast him into the empty universe, I can seal him inside for eternity.”

“How we gonna do that?”

“Force the Lich’s hand. His plan is to destroy this world before he enters the multiverse; force him to retreat, to advance his plans. When he opens up the portal, I can use what little influence I have to change it, and you can kick him into it. I’ll also try to negate his mind control powers, at least enough so that you can overpower him. I gotta go now, good luck!”

Prismo disappears. Bonnie rubs her eyes.

“Okay, what the HECK just happened?!”

“Oh, yeah, we’re friends with an all-powerful interdimensional wish master,” says Jake.

“It doesn’t matter,” says Finn. “We have a plan to defeat the Lich now. We need to be on the offense.”

Huntress Wizard speaks up. “Can we do that by ourselves?”

“No, but I think I know someone who can help. You guys stay here.”

* * *

 

Finn walks to the edge of the water. He’s by a river in a deep ravine.

“Canyon? You in there?”

Canyon’s head comes up out of the water. “Hey, Finn. What’s going on?”

Finn points up at the sky. She looks up.

“Oh, that’s a problem. What happened?”

“The Lich is back. He’s trying to kill the world. We have a plan, but we need to overpower him.”

Canyon narrows her eyes and nods. She picks Finn up by the head and places him on her back, and starts climbing up the ravine.

“So, what happened with the Lich? And Billy?”

Finn starts explaining the whole story.

* * *

 

By the time Canyon and Finn reach the treehouse, Marceline has joined the others, all standing around the front of the tree. Toxic clouds continue to billow into the air in the distance. Canyon sets Finn down.

“So, we ready to go kick the Lich’s buns?”

“Just a minute. I wanna go put on my favorite sweater.” Finn runs inside for a minute, before emerging wearing Bonnie’s pink sweater.

“You kept the sweater I made?”

“Yeah, man. The ultimate weapon against evil.”

The group prepares to set out. Jake and Canyon get on the Morrow, while Marceline turns into a giant bat for the others. Before they get on, Huntress Wizard stops Finn.

“So, what do you think our chances of success are?”

“Um… maybe 50-50, I guess. Why?”

Huntress Wizard grabs Finn by the collar and kisses him.

“Hard meat don’t get eat.”

“I… still don’t know what that means.”

Huntress Wizard runs and hops on Marceline’s back. Finn pauses before following.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	10. Mortal Folly

The Lich stands at the center of a whirling vortex of nightmares, cackling madly. The subway lair had been leveled by the explosion, and the energy released had coalesced into the insane whirlwind of death that the Lich now stands in the center of. Flaming debris and noxious gas roar as the Lich laughs, ready to kill the world.

Out of nowhere, a foot pummels the Lich in the back, sending him flying to the ground. He groans and rises to face his 6 enemies, all dropping down from the sky. It was Canyon who had kicked him. The Lich grins and laughs.

_I have won, and yet you continue to try._

The air starts to turn cold. The world begins to fall dark.

“No,” says Finn. The Lich’s influence ceases to affect them.

_What?_

“We’ve got friends in high places, Lich. You ain’t gonna control our bods any longer.”

The Lich growls. _No matter._

He raises an arm, and a battalion of desiccated skeletons rise from the burnt debris and jagged rock below them. The horde begins attacking the heroes. Canyon idly kicks one of the corpses and grimaces at the Lich.

“You killed my ex-boyfriend.”

_I skinned that old man alive and wore him like a suit. I had everybody fooled._

She growls and lunges at him.

* * *

 

Bonnie punches a skeleton through the skull, and pulls a shotgun out of her pack. She switches it to the 2-gun setting, and tosses the new gun to Marceline. Finn goes to town with his sword, while Jake smashes skeletons with a giant fist. Huntress Wizard fires arrows wildly at the attackers.

* * *

 

Canyon repeatedly attacks the Lich, who continues laughing. He is kicked to the ground, but rises to his feet easily. He raises his arms and sends off a burst of green fire, burning Canyon’s arms. She hisses and jumps at him, grabbing both of his horns. The Lich grapples with Canyon, growling and clawing at her with skeletal hands.

* * *

 

Marceline blasts another skeleton away and laughs. She’s back to back with Bonnie, who is yelling almost unintelligibly. Marceline looks over at the Lich, who despite Canyon’s attacks is still laughing.

“Finn! Get that dillweed! We’ll take care of the skeletons!”

Finn sends them a thumbs up and lunges at the Lich. He grabs onto his cape and starts stabbing him in the back with his sword. Huntress Wizard starts firing arrows at the Lich’s legs, throwing off his balance.

Finally, Canyon screams. In an instant, one of the Lich’s horns snaps off with a resounding crack. All of a sudden, the chaotic scene falls quiet in shock. The Lich grasps at the broken stump on his skull, snarling in pain.

_You are a nuisance. This battle is over, but I will return._

The Lich raises an arm, tearing open a portal in reality. Beyond, there is an infinite web of universes.

_I shall return to this world with an immeasurable army, and you will burn._

The Lich begins laughing again, and prepares to step into the portal.

But suddenly, the portal turns dark, showing only an empty dimension.

The Lich turns and stares directly at Finn, eyes turning from green to red.

_You._

He focuses all of his power on the boy. His rage overpowers Prismo’s influence, and the world falls dark again, isolating Finn.

_Fall._

Finn collapses.

_Once again, you defeat me. Time and time again, my failure comes at the hands of a pathetic child. But no more. I am going to crush you, Finn. I am defeated, but I will watch you **die.**_

The Lich opens his mouth, and his noxious death breath comes out. Finn feebly tries to crawl away as it approaches.

“Hey!”

The light returns, and the two look up. Huntress Wizard stands atop a high rock, two arrows on her bow. She fires, the arrows flying straight into the Lich’s eyes. He screams, clutching his eyes. Finn shakes off his petrification and turns to Canyon.

“Throw me the horn!”

Canyon tosses the Lich’s severed horn to Finn. He lunges at the Lich’s chest, driving the sharp end straight through the cloth and into the ribcage. Finn violently pries out the block of debris at the heart of the Lich, smashing it to release the gems of the Enchiridion. The Lich growls and pulls the arrows out of his eyes.

Finn raises a leg and kicks the Lich square in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

“Jake! Trip him up!”

Jake stretches out an arm behind the Lich, tripping him. The Lich falls backwards through the portal, floating in empty space on the other side. He looks up as his adversaries gather around the portal, weapons raised. He grimaces, ragged flesh flapping around his jaws.

_You will die, Finn._

The Lich reaches out with his arm, hand extending out of the portal. As he does, it closes, the Lich disappearing on the other side. The severed skeletal hand falls to the ground harmlessly. The blazing cyclone of nightmarish power ceases. Everybody breathes a collective sigh of relief.

“Will he be back?” asks Jake. Finn shakes his head.

“No. Without the gems, he doesn’t have the power to open another portal.”

As he says this, the gems rise up into the air and fly off in the direction of their owners. Bonnie’s gem flies into her crown, causing her to stumble. Marceline steadies her.

“I’m gonna have to quarantine this side of the lake,” says Bonnie. “All this radioactive biz can’t be good for any of us.” She gestures to the green flame that is slowly dying out around them.

Jake grows huge, and kneels down for everybody to reach. “Everybody hop on. I’m taking us home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	11. The Last Remnant

Jake drops everybody off at the tree fort. Marceline and Bonnie head off to Marceline’s house, and Huntress Wizard departs to the forest (not before kissing Finn again). Before she leaves, Canyon kneels in front of Finn.

“Finn, you kicked the Lich into the void just like Billy kicking him into the sap of that tree. He’d be proud.”

She looks up at the clouds, which had returned to normal. “You and HW remind me of me and Billy. You’re gonna be the next kickbutt power couple. Good luck, Finn.” She gives him a fistbump and walks off into the distance.

* * *

 

“Do you want to play… video games?”

Finn looks up at BMO from the couch, and sits up.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

He grabs BMO’s controller and turns on Kompy’s Kastle. After a little while, Finn falls asleep.

* * *

 

Finn wakes up at a clattering sound outside. He tiredly peels himself off the couch, grabs his sword, and heads outside. Walking around the tree fort, Finn finds that a trash can around the back had been knocked over.

“Just nothing. Oh well.”

As Finn turns to go back inside, something crawls up on top of the shed behind him. It leaps into the air, tackling Finn to the ground and grabbing him. He yelps and starts wrestling with the attacker, who starts crushing him

Finn pulls the attacker off and throws it to the ground. It’s a large, skeletal hand.

The last remnant of the Lich.

Finn brandishes his sword, and squares off with the hand. It makes a quiet, clattering sound.

“Lich? That you, ya creep?”

The hand doesn’t respond. Unlike the last severed Lich hand Finn had dealt with, this one didn’t seem capable of communication.

The hand lunges again, and Finn slashes at it with his sword. The hand lands and skitters towards him, grabbing Finn’s swinging arm between two fingers, trying to force him to drop the sword. Finn kicks the hand away, but it flicks his arm, sending the sword flying up through the treehouse window. Finn looks up at the broken window, then back down at the hand.

“Well, I guess this is where I start running.”

Finn turns and starts sprinting. He hears the clattering sound of the skeletal hand crawling after him. Fortunately, he knows where he’s going.

* * *

 

Banana Man’s house appears on the horizon. Finn keeps running, not looking behind him. He knows the hand is on his tail.

A tall rocket sits on the far side of the house. Evidently, Banana Man is fond of building those. Finn runs around the house and climbs up the ladder to the rocket door. He crouches down inside, and peeks out the window. The hand appears outside, coming up to Banana Man’s house. It turns around a few times, as if looking for him. Finn goes to the rocket’s console and starts hitting buttons, until something starts and the rocket starts shaking. Finn climbs down into the lower level of the rocket and hides.

The skeleton hand skitters up the ladder, entering the rocket. It scans the room, and begins stalking around. Below, Finn is concealed, crouching on top of the fuse for the dynamite. He pulls out a match and lights the fuse, making a loud crackling noise. The hand perks up, and crawls down into the lower level of the rocket. It lunges at Finn, trying to crush his head between its fingers. He grabs the digits with his hands, wrestling with the hand before managing to throw it off of him. Finn quickly jumps up the rocket as the hand crawls up after him, jumping out the door and slamming it behind him. The hand pounds on the door as the rocket shakes.

With a loud boom, the dynamite explodes, launching the rocket into the air. Finn watches as a series of smaller boosters turn on once it reaches the right height, firing the rocket even higher. The ship grows smaller and smaller as it approaches outer space, eventually disappearing from sight completely. Finn breathes a sigh of relief. The Lich is gone.

Suddenly, Banana Man bursts out of the door to his house.

“Dude, what the heck did you do?”

Finn looks down at Banana Man, then back up at the sky, then back down at Banana Man again. He shrugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this has been fun. thanks for reading
> 
> Comments are welcome


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